Day 83- Water, water everywhere…

Day 83 pic uploaded, fresh tomato and basil from the market. Yay, summer!

Sunday, I volunteered at the More Fitness Half marathon. Yes, I volunteered again. April will be the month of volunteering for, not running, races. The first time, at the Scotland 10k, I was injured for a race I’d really wanted to run. So I course marshaled, escorting pedestrians across a busy cross-walk, on a beautiful day and a late starting race. The first of two volunteering gigs to help my team secure marathon spots was at the J.P.Morgan Run as One, where we handed out bagels (bags and bags of bagels) at the finish line. And Sunday I manned a water station at 72nd street at the More Fitness half.
One interesting detail about this race. It was raining. Those of you in NYC who may have woken up at a reasonable hour for a Sunday morning, will not realize quite how much it was raining. By 10am the rain started to lighten, nearing a drizzle, rather than a downpour. But, at 5.30 am, when I left my house to walk over to the park, it was pouring. Large, heavy, drops that pooled on my hood (causing a waterfall when I bent to tie my shoe), and bounced off the water table up into my face. The cups, filled 3/4 full as we prepped the table, were brimming as the runners came by. I dumped half the contents into the garbage bin of water at my side, before handing them out, till I realized that it was in imminent danger of over-flowing all over my, already completely drenched, feet.
Still it was a great experience, and I developed even more respect for the regular volunteers who seem to come out every weekend. They knew exactly how to set up the table, we only assisted with the water filling, and we left them long before they would need to pack them up to put them on the truck (this was a walker-friendly race, with walking taken quite liberally– apparently including the use of umbrellas and cell-phones).
I am happy I was able to experience some of the range of tasks required to run a NYRR race. A couple friends of mine bike marshaled as well, another important (and seemingly very rewarding) volunteer task. I am also really looking forward to actually running a race soon. This time I will be sure to stay inside the cones, be understanding when pedestrians need to cross the course, and thank the volunteers at the water station.